The Tasters turns one of the strangest and most disturbing footnotes of the Second World War into a tense historical drama. Silvio Soldini keeps the focus close to the women at the table, where every meal looks ordinary until you remember it could be deadly.
Film details
- Title: The Tasters
- Premiere date in the Netherlands: 7 May 2026
- Director: Silvio Soldini
- Runtime: 124 minutes
- Genre: Drama
- Countries: Italy, Belgium, Switzerland
- Language: German
- Subtitles: Dutch
- Age rating: 12+
- Cast: Elisa Schlott, Max Riemelt, Alma Hasun, Emma Falck, Olga von Luckwald and Berit Vander
- Where to watch in Rotterdam: Cinerama, LantarenVenster
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What’s the vibe?
Autumn 1943. Rosa escapes the bombing of Berlin and moves to the East Prussian countryside, hoping for a safer life with her in-laws. Sadly, history has other plans and they are very badly dressed plans.
Nearby lies the Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s heavily guarded headquarters. Before long, Rosa and a group of young women are collected by the SS and forced into a terrifying routine: tasting Hitler’s meals before he eats them, in case the food has been poisoned.
The result is not a grand battlefield drama, but something more intimate and claustrophobic. The tension sits in the smallest things: a spoon, a glance, a pause after swallowing. Around the table, fear turns into rivalry, suspicion and reluctant sisterhood.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below.
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Why you might like it
- Eyes: Muted wartime interiors, controlled framing and meal scenes that turn silence into suspense.
- Heart: The film centres on women trying to survive a system that sees them as disposable, without turning their fear into easy melodrama.
- Mind: It asks an unsettling question: what does survival look like when even eating becomes obedience?
Critical reception
The Tasters has received a mixed to positive response. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has 7 listed critic reviews but no official Tomatometer score yet. The available reviews praise its controlled atmosphere, costume and production design, with several critics highlighting the ensemble cast and the tense group dynamics among the women.
The response is not all glowing. Some critics felt the film was more conventional than its premise suggests, and that it sometimes struggles to dig deeply enough into the moral horror of the story. Others found its restraint effective, especially in the scenes where ordinary table rituals become instruments of fear.
Filmladder lists the film with an IMDb score of 6.4, based on more than 2,500 ratings. In Italy, the film has earned stronger awards recognition: Le assaggiatrici, its original title, received 13 nominations at the 2026 David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won a Nastro d’Argento for casting director Laura Muccino, shared with Il tempo che ci vuole.
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Scene to watch for
Watch the first tasting scene carefully. The power of the film sits in the way the women are told to eat as if it is a privilege, while every bite carries the threat of death. It is polite, controlled and completely horrifying.
Recommended pairing
This is not a film for popcorn-chomping chaos. Go for something simple before the screening, then save the heavier meal for afterwards, when the tension has left your shoulders. A quiet drink and a walk by the water work well after this one. You may need a bit of air, and Rotterdam usually knows how to provide a dramatic sky when required.
Need-to-knows
The Tasters is based on Rosella Postorino’s novel Le assaggiatrici, which was inspired by the story of Margot Wölk, a woman who later claimed she had been one of Hitler’s food tasters. The film is directed by Silvio Soldini, best known internationally for Bread and Tulips. Soldini co-wrote the screenplay with Doriana Leondeff, Cristina Comencini, Giulia Calenda, Ilaria Macchia and Lucio Ricca.
